The Legend of Harry Potter
by Zaln
Summary: For Harry Potter, it's been rough being the average brother of the BoyWhoLived. However, Harry is determined to make a name for himself. And so, at the age of eight, he sets out on a journey that will change the wizarding world forever.


Hey ya'll, I'm back wit some new shit! Adventure fics have always been my favorite. I love when an author has a character explore the unvisited, unexplained places in a series. But there are so very few true adventure fics lurking around. So, after much Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, this story has come into my brain and refused to leave. And so, I present to you, The Legend of Harry Potter. (duh-duhduh-duh).

Disclaimer: Man why do people even bother with these shits anymore. I mean, it's not like anyone actually gotten sued for creating a crappy fanfic on Legend of Harry Potter.

* * *

Prologue: Beginning of a Legend

If you asked Harry Potter what he liked to do the most, his reply would be that he loved to read. Maybe this was the reason he seemed to the odd one out in his family, or maybe that was the very reason he loved to read.

Either way it was a moot point, because no one ever asked Harry what he liked to do the most, or what he wanted for Christmas, or even what he wanted for dinner that night. It wasn't as if his parents didn't love him, at least Harry thought they did. No, it was that his parents loved his twin brother Thomas more.

Okay maybe that was a bit unfair to them, Tommy was the The Boy Who Lived after all. Because of that he had had a hard life. Ever since the night when he had survived the killing curse, Tommy's life had changed. That night Voldemort had attacked, and instead of killing James and Lily immediately, he had decided to make them suffer for opposing him by making them watch as he killed their children. He decided to kill Tommy first, but as the killing curse struck Tommy it somehow reflected back on Voldemort, banishing him from his body. Tommy only had a lighting bolt scar. James and Lily had been seriously injured in the attack and the subsequent destruction of the house, but because of the excellent treatment they received at Saint Mungo's, they survived and were able to nearly make a full recovery, though sometimes James had relapses, while Lily had to deal with Post-traumatic Stress Disorder.

Dumbledore had been adamant that Voldemort was not truly dead, and though people refused to believe him at first, the Dark Mark once again began to appear in the sky nearly a year later. Voldemort was back, but he had been severely weakened. Attacks still happened, but not with the same frequency and devastation they previously had. The Aurors had time to rebuild their ranks, and the battle lines were drawn. People still went about their lives, but their was a blanket of unease and suspicion that overshadowed the Wizarding World. All the while, people wondered when The Boy Who Lived would vanquish You-Know-Who once and for all.

So by the time Tommy was four he had already started training for the inevitable battle with Voldemort (his parents were adamant that Tommy be able to say His name without fear). The Potters had to go into hiding, rarely appearing in the public eye. Tommy had few friends, as his parents only trusted him around children of other members of the Order of the Phoenix. Because of this, James and Lily tried to make it up to Tommy by giving him as much love and attention as possible. James, with the aid of Sirius and Remus, taught Tommy how to play quiditch. Lily made sure to make Tommy's favorite meals when he was progressing well with his training. They both took Tommy on vacations out of the country.

So where did this leave little Harry? Well, Harry was mostly left behind. James job as Auror Captain left little spare time, and he spent all of it with Tommy. Lily couldn't do Order business, take care of Tommy and the house, and cook Harry's favorite meals so Harry ate whatever was there. When Harry and Tommy went over to play with other Order member's children, like the Weasley's, they all wanted to play and talk to Tommy, but what Harry wanted the most was to be able to go on vacation with his family. Because they had to watch Tommy at all times, it was just too much to take both their kids along with them. That means that Harry was left behind. Out of all things this upset Harry the most, because he wanted to see the world. Because it was so dangerous, Harry had rarely been off the Potter property. But Harry didn't begrudge his parents or his brother; well at least not much. He knew that they were trying to make Tommy as happy as possible now, because soon he would have to fight against evil. He just wished that he could get to do some of the things he wanted to do.

And so Harry read. He read everything; mysteries, action, romance. But Harry's favorite stories were adventures. He read tales of heroes real and imagined, of dungeons explored and battles fought, of creatures long faded into history. That didn't mean Harry was a couch potato. Far from it. Harry had a very active imagination. He would climb the highest trees imagining they were far off mountains. He would fight epic battles on the Potter's front lawn. He would reenact scenes from his favorite books. But it was always by himself.

Yet and still, Harry dreamed that he would one day have an actual adventure; and it would have remained a dream if not for a series of events that changed everything.

* * *

Harry sat the highest branch of the highest tree on the Potter property. He was reading about Gladius the Great. The story was within an old tome about real heroes long past. Harry was engrossed in the book, seemingly oblivious that he was a good fifty feet in the air; that one wrong move could cause his death. No, the pages describing Gladius were much more interesting.

_While Gladius the Great accomplished many things in his lifetime, he started out as a simple village boy on the outskirts of the Roman Empire. His father was the village warrior, and trained him in the arts of war. However, Gladius was not a very talented fighter, and his father grew increasingly frustrated with him. By the time he was eight, his father had become so enraged and Gladius' failure, that he disowned him and banished him from the village. _

'_Wow, he was only my age'_, Harry thought. Even thought his parents didn't pay much attention to him, he knew they loved him and would never do something like that. Shaking his head, Harry began again to read.

_Vowing to prove his father wrong and become a great warrior, Gladius began his quest to learn the battle arts across the Roman Empire. His quest took him many places; Gladius learned from the conquered warrior tribes in Eastenr Europe, served in the Roman army and even fought as a Gladiator in Rome's deadly Coliseum._

All of a sudden Harry was distracted by the sound of voices coming from the house. Looking up, Harry was shocked at what he saw.

People, lots of people; it looked as if half the Order was here. And they were all going into his house. Quickly shutting the book, Harry made his way down from his perch to see what was going on. Jumping from the lowest branch and landing easily, Harry scrambled towards the house as fast as he could run. Making his way towards the crowd, he pushed and maneuvered his way through the crowd of adults. Once through the door, he saw his parents and Dumbledore crowded around his brother. They were saying something, but with everyone talking he couldn't hear a word of it. Finally Dumbledore decided to address the group.

"Quiet everyone. Now I know we all have something to say about what we saw or what we think we saw, but let's not get ahead of ourselves"

"But Dumbledore, we just witnessed an eight year old child take on a fully trained Death Eaters and win!" exclaimed one of the adults.

"The boy is obviously a Godsend, I bet he could take on He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named right now!"

At this, the crowd once again burst into whispers.

"Enough!" shouted Dumbledore, his power exploding around him. Instantly the room got quiet. "Do not be so scared that you would send a half trained child to fight for you!"

The crowd was silent, before a woman spoke up. "But Dumbledore, he is the Boy-Who-Lived, surley-"

"That is exactly it" interrupted Dumbledore "he is but a boy. He still has many things to undergo. Perhaps he will one day vanquish Voldemort, but that day is long from now. Until then, we will not be depriving James and Lily of their child. Now, I need everyone to take an oath that they will not discuss what they saw today to anyone. Everyone, please for a line"

With the adults and Dumbledore pre-occupied with the oath taking, Harry slipped in next to his brother.

"So is it true?" Harry whispered, "Did you really beat Death Eaters?

His brother Tommy turned to him, and Harry was reminded how much Tommy looked like their father. Tommy was almost the spitting image of their father, but smaller. However, Tommy's eyes were alight with Lily's intelligence.

"Yea I beat them. It was close though, and Dad told me that they were low ranking Death Eaters. If it had been one of the inner-circle I'd have been toast" answered Tommy.

"Still, that's totally wicked" Harry told his brother, holding his hand up for a high-five.

"Oh no you don't Harry; don't congratulate your brother on his foolishness" Lily's voice rained down from above and she stood over her two boys.

"But Mu-um, it's so cool! I wish I could do stuff like that" Harry finished, his voice becoming a little despondent.

"It's not cool" replied Lily, "Your brother has a large burden on his shoulders because of his ability and you know that. And Tommy, next time we tell you to use your portkey you listen understand?"

"But Mum, I couldn't just leave you and Dad there!" whined Tommy.

"Oh yes you can and you will, right James?"

"Right," said James Potter, who approached the rest of his family after speaking with Dumbledore. "You're mother's right squirt, you were lucky this time".

At this Tommy looked down, ashamed of himself. Then James leaned in closer and whispered conspiratorially, but loud enough for Lily to hear "but just between you and me, you were bloody brilliant out there kid!".

"James! Not you too!" said Lily, but there was a twinkle in her eye that was hard to miss.

Harry quietly slipped away, (something he was exceedingly good at) letting his brother enjoy the spotlight. He was immensely proud of his brother, but just a little envious as well. He knew his brother was already beginning to become a powerful wizard, while he himself was just average.

But somewhere, in the back Harry's mind, a plan was beginning to form. And for the rest of the night, for some reason, all Harry could think of was Gladius the Great.

* * *

Things changed after that night. From then on, Tommy training really began. He was trained by the best; Dumbledore himself did much of the training. Some of the trainers scared Harry, such as Mad-Eye Moody. But either way, Harry did not get to see his brother much anymore.

Maybe it was because of that, or because Harry was tired of doing the same doing the same things day in, day out, while longing to do the things he read about. Whatever it was, the plan that had been bubbling in the back of his mind finally came to the front of it.

It was decided: Harry Potter was going on an adventure. There was no ifs, ands, or buts about it. Harry knew this would require some planning though, and with that in mind, he set to work. First he needed to find out how he would go about this. He spent days in the Potter library, researching how other adventurers had got there start. He realized that he needed to find some dungeons to explore, for that was what adventurers did before they got wrapped up in a giant quest or something. So with that in mind, he set out to find some dungeons. The Potter library was full of old books, and it was nearly a matter of time before he found some that contained maps that charted the location of old castles and dungeons. Harry marked the castle that he would explore first. Now all he needed to do was bide his time and wait for the right opportunity. He knew if he left too early, his parents would simply find him and drag him back, and if he screwed this up he may never have another chance to leave.

So he waited and planned, and when opportunity came knocking, he was ready.

His parents had taken Tommy out of the country again; something about training with a Master Sorcery. They had left old Arabella Figg to watch Harry. Ms. Figg was nice, but she spent her time either talking to Harry about her cats or sleeping in the rocking chair the Potters owned. It was during on one of Ms. Figgs many naps, that Harry saw his chance.

With a bottomless backpack full of books, maps, a tent, his father's survival kit, and extra sets of extra cloths, Harry quietly crept through the living, past the sleeping old Ms. Figg, and out the front door. However, he remembered that he hadn't left his family a note. Quickly digging out a pen (his mothered insisted they have some around the house) and a spare piece of parchment, Harry quickly scribbled a note to his family.

The note read:

_Dear Family,_

_I've decided to go on an adventure. Don't worry, I'm fine. I'm going to make you guys proud and become the best adventurer ever._

_Love,_

_Harry_

With that done, Harry proceed to mount his brother's broom (he figured his parents would buy his brother another one) and started off on what would become the stuff of legends.

When Arabella Figg awoke, it was to and empty house. Frantically she searched for young Harry, only to find the note Harry had addressed to his family, and without wasting a moment, Arabella fire-called Dumbledore, to inform him of the situation. Dumbledore contacted the Potters, and within the day they had returned home to try and find young Harry. Try as they might though, they could not figure out where Harry might be.

Everybody, even Tommy, knew what lurked outside the protected walls of the Potter manor. And so, the Potters mourned what they thought to be a loss to the family. But they were right about one thing: the world would never be the same.

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Blam! Done! Hope ya'll liked it. This will become much more Harry centric in the following chapters. We'll be checking in to see what's up with the Potter's and Tommy periodically, but it will mostly be about Harry's adventurers as a, well, adventurer. I even have a spinoff planned for an event that happens later in the story. Review and lemme know if you liked the prologue. Until then, I'm off to write more Tension.

Peace,

-Z


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